Wash off the 151

A SCIENCE news article on the BBC Earth News site published in February about macaques 'knowing what they know' caught my eye recently. The phenomenon of metacognition, whereby an individual is aware of its own knowledge and can therefore express doubt or certainty when confronted with a challenge, is an attribute frequently thought to be exclusively human. However, as the article points out, macaques also express self doubt. I was drawn to this article not only because it is profoundly interesting but also because I knew full well that I myself had written about the very same topic, and a highly similar (arguably more advanced) study, several years ago.

I knew that I had stored my own article online somewhere, but could not remember where. I eventually found it, and plan to expand on it soon, but in searching I found some very interesting references to myself spread across the Internet, notably with my photographs. I have a Flickr account, on which all of my photographs are public. I allow my images to be used under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Creative Commons license, which means that anybody is welcome to share or remix my images, on the condition that they attribute me as the owner of the photo, do not use it for commercial purposes and they make no claim that I endorse their use of the image in the context they have chosen. If they change the picture, the same rules apply. I like to do this because I make no financial gain from the pictures, its just a bit of fun, and I'm proud that others might want to use my pictures. And oh, it turns out they do in some unexpected ways.


1. When Simon had his brain switched off

A few years ago I took part in a study using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate the role of the cerebellum in pre-emptive motor coordination. I got to look like a robot for a day and I wrote about it here. What better way to honour this study than... er, stick the photograph of me at the start of a presentation on recycling?

Original link | View more presentations from Ross Breadmore

A couple of other channels picked up the picture and used it more accurately, including the Wellcome collection's Packed Lunch blog.

2. If Knowledge Is Power

A very philosophical quote is the subject of one of my most popular photographs. It has made its way into a presentation (slide 37) and video about learning and teaching, flanked by some basketball players interrupted by a gorilla and a fat man writing on a blackboard:

Original link | View more presentations from David Jones

3. The Royal Society

A faithful republishing of my exterior shot of the brilliant Royal Society by Age UK.

4. Bon Jovi, City of Manchester Stadium

I took two photos from the cheap seats at a not-at-all embarrassing indulgence in 2006: I went to see Bon Jovi, and they were ace. One has made it into a showcase on how to take good photos at a concert, the other into a motivational presentation for the media player Banshee, entitled 'Inside the Awesome Factory'.

5. Danny Wallace

That lovely chap Danny Wallace, author of Join Me, Yes Man and other stuff, has been the subject of much of my Internet output over the years, but never before in a dictionary of British slang.

5. Rachel

I found pictures of Rachel in a collection of the best pictures of Hobart Zoo and in a collection of images from the "Tally Ho! police headquarters" on the Pershore road in Birmingham. Amusingly, this picture is actually of her having a staring contest with a meerkat.

6. Other random uses

7. And finally...

Let's have a folk metal night! Let's have some pagan rock too! In Bogotá, Colombia! And let's advertise it with a picture Simon took of, randomly, the reflection of a Viking ship in Oslo...